You needn't like ABBA to love 'Mamma Mia'

May 28, 2009

“Mamma Mia” is the Broadway Comes to Reno series’ season finale. / Provided to the Reno Gazette-Journal

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IF YOU GO

What: "Mamma Mia!" touring productionWhen: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through June 5 and 2 and 7:30 p.m. June 6 and 7Where: Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, 100 S. Virginia St.Tickets: $55 to $90, available at the Pioneer Center box office, by phone at 877-840-0457 or online at www.PioneerCenter.com

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Michelle Dawson says you needn't love ABBA to have a blast at "Mamma Mia!"

"Once you've seen it, you become an ABBA fan," said Dawson who stars in the touring production of the musical, opening Tuesday at the Pioneer Center. "I mean the songs are incredible. "I don't think people realize how popular and famous these songs are if they're not an ABBA fan."

"Mamma Mia!" is mostly a showcase for the music of the Swedish pop group. But that doesn't mean it's plot-free. Dawson plays Donna Sheridan, a freewheeling single mother who runs a hotel on a Greek island, and the show begins as her daughter, Sophie, is about to get hitched. Trouble is, Sophie wants her father to walk her down the aisle and Donna doesn't know who the Daddy is. After some investigation, Sophie invites three men from Donna's past to her wedding, convinced she'll be able to figure out who is who. Add the arrival of two of Donna's longtime girlfriends, and the stage is set for a wild musical comedy and a whole bunch of ABBA tunes.

Dawson said she was familiar with ABBA before she joined the show, but she wasn't what you'd call a fan. It didn't take long for that to change.

"The stories are so fantastic in the songs," she said. "The lyrics they tell a story and you're going to be able to relate. "» I have a son, I have a 4 ˝ -year-old. He's always singing the 'Mamma Mia!' tunes. You can even bring your 4-year-old."

Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, who wrote ABBA's music, helped develop the stage show, and it features a host of their hits, including "Dancing Queen," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Super Trouper" and "The Winner Takes it All." Originally opened in England, the show became a success there before it gained similar popularity in the U.S. and Canada. Today, producers estimate that more than 32 million people worldwide have seen the stage show, and a 2008 movie version introduced the phenomenon to a larger audience. But, Dawson says, live performances are what it's all about.

"It's a whole different experience," she said. "When you're in the audience, you're more a part of it because we respond off of you and you respond off of us, and it's a big party."

Not only does the stage show add energy, she said, but the characters don't mimic the movie.

"Meryl Streep (who played Donna in the film) and I are completely different," Dawson said. "That's the wonderful thing about the team, the creative team, they take what you have as a person and they fit you in that character. They just take the pieces that you can bring and apply it to the role."

And, perhaps more important than anything else, Dawson says the show is just a great time.

"It's going to be hard some day, when 'Mamma Mia!' is over for me, to go on to any other show because it's such a feel-good show for the audience and for the cast," she said. "People are just so happy. It makes it easy to do."